Author:Phillip Stubbes
Reproduction: John Payne Collier
Philip Stubbes (Stubbs) was born about 1555. He was an
English "Pamphleteer". A pamphleteer is a historical
term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets. He
was the brother of John Stubbs, also a pamphleteer and political
commentator during the Elizabethan era. John Stubbs opposed
the negotiations for a marriage between Queen Elizabeth and
the French Roman Catholic duc d'Anjou, Duke of Alecon, the
brother of the French king. In 1579 he wrote his opinions
in a pamphlet. Elizabeth's court was displeased by the publication.
Stubbs and his publisher were tried at Westminster, found
guilty of "seditious writing", and sentenced to
have their right hands cut off. He was subsequently imprisoned
for eighteen months. On being released he continued to write,
publishing other pamphlets. Later he served in the House of
Commons. Phillip was also a pamphleteer. He was educated at
Cambridge and Oxford and started writing in 1581. He is famous
for his virulent attack on the manners, customs, entertainments
and fashions of his period. He died about 1610.
A side note on John Payne Collier, the man who made the
reproduction. He was born in 1789. He was an English writer
and following his father’s footsteps, was lead writer
and reporter at the Morning Chronicle. His leisure was devoted
to the works of Shakespeare and early English tragedy. He
published books about them. Collier died in 1883.
